Substituting for Madeira wine in a mushroom stuffed with sausage recipe

Cream sherry is very sweet - likely too sweet for most recipes that don't explicitly mention it.

If a recipe simply calls for "sherry", it usually means dry sherry, as that's the most common kind of available. In fact, I don't think I've ever even seen "very dry" around here. So I would definitely stick with the dry.

As for brand, if you see several different bottles all labeled sherry, I don't think it matters too much which one you pick - at least if you're using it for cooking and not drinking.

P.S. If you're using this as a substitute for rice wine, the commonly-accepted substitute is indeed dry sherry.

Yes. If you wouldn't drink it, don't cook with it.

Whatever it tastes like out of the bottle, it will add that to the dish. Cook with a wine you might pair with the dish (light wines for seafood, chicken; heavier wines for meats and stews).

Don't use a fruity wine unless you want your dish to have some fruit notes. Don't use a very dry wine if you're making a sweeter dish.